


Enough

by hereforthehurts



Series: The three of us makes a home [2]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Caretaking, Comfortember, Comfortember 2020, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Multi, Service Dogs, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27521782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforthehurts/pseuds/hereforthehurts
Summary: Amy had always tried to make sure that Rosa was safe the best she could.But when she and Jake found Rosa drunk and on the floor after a PTSD blackout, she wonders if what she's done was enough.
Relationships: Rosa Diaz/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz/Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Series: The three of us makes a home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011510
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Enough

**Author's Note:**

> For comfortember day 12 and 16: Therapy pet + protective

Amy knew that Rosa had gotten her dog Arlo out of spite for Charles, but she must admit that it _has_ to be one of the best decision Rosa has ever made in her life.  
  
It all started when Amy had gotten a call from an ER asking if she was a relative of Rosa’s. She could never forget how she felt her heartbeat literally stop for a second in that moment, her mind jumping into the worst possible conclusion. She thought Rosa had died—she thought that she’d never see her alive and breathing again, working beside her again, joking with her again. Rosa ended up fine, of course, but the thought of possibly losing her forever had haunted Amy ever since.  
  
If she could plant a chip on Rosa to make sure that she was safe at all times, Amy would. She’d do almost literally _anything_ to keep her safe. And she knew very well that Rosa is a grown adult who could take care of herself, but… to be honest, Amy wasn’t so sure about that.  
  
The thing is, Rosa had… _issues_ , to put it into better words. She knew all about her struggles and her illnesses and her terrible coping mechanisms, sometimes more than she should. And the worst part about it is that Amy could do absolutely nothing about it—she was nobody to Rosa. Not her girlfriend, not a relative—she was just a friend. An acquaintance. She didn’t know how she could keep her safe while also respecting Rosa’s sometimes rather irrational boundaries.  
  
And that’s when Arlo came into their lives.  
  
The first time she saw Rosa introduce Arlo to the precinct, her mind immediately thought far about training him to be a service dog. The night after, Amy did a research on them—psychiatric service dog, that’s what they’re called—and how to train Arlo into one. It wasn’t going to be as effective as putting a chip on Rosa, she admits, but it was… okay. It would at least give her some peace of mind, knowing that there’s something that would keep Rosa safe.  
  
So that’s what she did—ask Rosa to lend Arlo to her every Sunday and train him with Jake at their home. Rosa, as always, was a bit skeptical about it in the first place. Amy didn’t tell her about the whole service dog plan, of course, but she was subtle about it. “I just wanted to borrow him and take him for walks, you know,” she had told her, trying to act as casual as possible.  
  
“Why would you want to do that?” Rosa frowns. “Amy, you’re allergic to dogs.”  
  
“ _And_ I have a phobia of them,” she agrees, not sure where she was going with that, “but, it’s all part of my, uh, therapy.”

“Therapy?”  
  
“Yeah, you know, for my phobias and stuff. I’ve been getting them lately, in case if I ever need to use one of the dogs for a case at work or something.” God, she was _terrible_ at lying, but Rosa had somehow bought her excuse.  
  
“Fine. You can borrow him for a few hours, I guess,” The other woman says. “Just make sure nothing, and I meant _nothing,_ happens to him, because if something bad does—”  
  
“—you’ll kill everyone in this room and then yourself, yeah, I know,” Amy finishes the sentence for her. “I’ll take good care of him, I promise.”  
  
“Good. You better,” she says with a smile, and that was the start of it all.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Arlo was about one and a half years old when it happened.  
  
It was about a month after Rosa was caught up in a hotel shooting, the one where she witnessed a few people dying with her own eyes. And even after that, she had insisted that she was fine, that she was good to go back to work—but really, who was she fooling? Not Amy. Not Jake. And definitely _not_ Arlo. The dog had watched her stumble home every night if not half-drunk, exhausted and crying, or all at the same time. He had dragged her to shower and led her to bed most nights, and stayed on her side while she screams and cries even more in her sleep, trying his best to comfort her.  
  
Things were particularly bad that week. After days of nightmares and waking up screaming, Rosa had convinced herself that she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t sleep at all or that she’d end up getting stuck on the same nightmare, forced to go through it again and again. She chugged down coffee, carbonated drinks, anything with caffeine she could get her hands on—and when even _that’s_ not enough for her, brought up every alcoholic drink she has in the house and got down on that, too—it was a complete disaster. And Arlo could do absolutely nothing at all but to let her hold him while shuts herself down.  
  
Lucky for him, though, Amy and Jake arrived the day after. They barged through Rosa’s door with their own copy of her keys and sprung to action immediately, getting her off the living room floor and into bath and eventually, after many comforting words and reassurance, to bed.  
  
He’s watching Amy cuddle with Rosa in bed, now.  
  
It’s been a few hours since they came, and a few hours since Rosa finally slept in days. Amy didn’t leave her side at all, watching the other woman sleep in her arms, eyes wide open and alert. Nothing seemed to be going good at the moment—the atmosphere around them was thick with tension, someone could probably cut it in half with a knife.  
  
“Hey, Ames?” a voice on the door whispers. It was the other person, Jake, sympathy written all over his face. “I have to go to the precinct, do you think you can be here for a while?”  
  
Amy nods her head, a little confused, a little dazed. “I… okay. Yeah.”  
  
“Alright,” he says, walking over to the bed quietly and presses a kiss onto her forehead. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”  
  
She nods again.  
  
Amy rests her face on Rosa’s shoulder a few moment after Jake left, sobbing silently. She’s careful not to wake Rosa up, but it was still hard to contain her sobs. Her chest hurts. She’d do anything to be able to take pain away from Rosa. She hated how helpless it made her feel, to watch her sleep lightly in her arms, only to be awaken by another nightmare again. She doesn’t know how to help her, she doesn’t know what to do and there’s really _nothing_ she could do and Amy _hated_ it.  
  
Arlo licks the tip of her fingers gently.  
  
Well, she _had_ done everything that she could. But it still wasn’t enough—it was _frustratingly not enough.  
_But at least she’s here for Rosa. Always have, always will—and she stays. She’ll stay with her as long as she needs, even if it’s forever.  
  
Arlo steps into the crowd, wagging his tail sadly and attempts to nuzzle the crying woman. “Whoa there, buddy. Calm down,” She whispers, wiping away the tears from her cheeks to pat the dog. He settles his head on Amy’s lap and seemed to watch over them carefully, as if he was guarding them.  
  
Amy stares into Arlo’s gleaming brown eyes for a while. Arlo, he’s just a dog. He doesn’t understand anything, even if he tries to—but what he _does_ understand is to stay. He’ll stay there, on their side, no matter what happens. Even if it’s the end of the world.  
  
And if that’s enough for Rosa… then what she’s doing should be enough, too. Right?  
  
Amy brushes a stray hair away from Rosa’s forehead and tucks it behind her ear as she murmurs in her sleep, curling closer into her.  
  
_Right_.  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr blog!!](https://hereforthehurts.tumblr.com/)


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